


Send My Love

by FallingLikeThis, Rearviewdreamer



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Online Dating, Boys In Love, Get Together, Humor, Limericks, M/M, Mentions of Smut, Online Dating, Online Relationship, Phone Calls & Telephones, Some angst, Strangers to Lovers, Texting, but no onscreen smut, cat enthusiasts, dirty poetry, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 10:04:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14590647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallingLikeThis/pseuds/FallingLikeThis, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rearviewdreamer/pseuds/Rearviewdreamer
Summary: Louis Tomlinson is fed up with dating losers. Harry Styles is tired of leaving his love life up to fate. Maybe one last try is just what they need to get it right.Or, when online dating actually works.





	Send My Love

**Author's Note:**

> So, giant thanks goes to my co-writer and friend [Michelle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rearviewdreamer/pseuds/Rearviewdreamer) for going on another writing journey with me. The fics we write together are my absolute favorites. 
> 
> Also, massive thank you to [Molly](http://becomeawendybird.tumblr.com) for the super quick and superb beta!
> 
> This fic was written as part of an ongoing challenge. We each select random numbers and are given a specific emotion from the book 1000 Feelings For Which There Are No Names. To read the other fics written in this challenge, [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/ShortFic_Challenge_For_Which_There_Is_No_Name/works), or you can find the masterpost on tumblr [here](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/159679804243/1000-feelings-for-which-there-are-no-names-prompt).

  1. _The insatiable greed for electronic love notes._



 

The five floors it takes to get to Logan’s flat have always left Louis a bit breathless, however they’re even more of a challenge with the heavy bags of groceries in his arms. When he finally makes it to the top of the landing, he has to use the toe of his shoe to knock since his hands are full. He waits quietly for several long beats, listening for his boyfriend’s tell-tale footsteps on the other side of the door before knocking – _kicking_ – again.

“Babe, I’m here! Could you come let me in please?”

The grip he has around his bags slips a bit as he counts the seconds until the lock clicks and Logan’s footsteps begin retreating back the way they came.

“Er- Could you open it too, love? I’m sorry. My hands are full,” Louis explains, listening to his boyfriend traipse back to help him.

“Hey.”

“Hey, babe,” Louis grins once Logan lets him in. He heads straight to the kitchen to deposit all the pasta ingredients for the recipe they’re trying out tonight while his boyfriend heads straight for the sofa and turns the volume up on the television.

Louis ditches the groceries on the counter to go join him, cuddling into Logan’s side the way he has wanted to since they last saw each other almost a whole week ago.

“I’ve missed you,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to his jaw. It doesn’t get returned or acknowledged really with Logan’s attention so caught up with the TV he had to leave just to open the door for him. “You know, love,” Louis says after a beat. “I could just let myself in if I had key like when you come over to mine.”

Logan goes tense at the mention of the controversial key that they seem to talk about all the time but never really reach an agreement on.

“Er-I’m not saying I’m moving in or anything just because I have a key,” Louis assures him. “Just that it’d be a lot easier for both of us.”

Louis finishes giving his opinion on the matter with another kiss to Logan’s cheek just as he turns his face away from him completely.

“We should probably talk about that.”

Louis blinks back in delighted surprise at this sudden change of heart.

“About _us_. Not the key,” Logan clarifies once he notices his excitement.

It’s not the small step forward he was hoping for, but a nice talk might be just as helpful considering they’ve been kind of distant lately. “Well, what about us, love? What were you think-?”

“That we should break up,” he answers without any hesitation.

The reserved yet concerned ‘ _Oh?’_ Louis is inclined to give doesn’t make its way out of Louis’ mouth before a hurt and very confused demand of ‘ _WHAT_?’ does.

“What do you mean we should break up? What the hell for?”

“Because, Louis, this isn’t working.” Louis thinks it was working just fine before the last fifteen seconds happened. “This isn’t what I want with all the dinners and the family stuff and the bloody keys discussion.”

“Alright,” Louis nods carefully, already thinking of ways to fix this. “So, you don’t want to talk about keys yet. We can table it for now.”

“No, I don’t want to talk about keys ever. At least, not with you. Not anymore,” his boyfriend admits.

That hurts more than anything Logan has said or done in the past seven months they’ve been together.

“Who is it that you _do_ want to talk about it with, then?” Louis asks quietly. There must be someone, otherwise Logan wouldn’t have been acting so weird around him these past few weeks. “Well, go on,” Louis says to him in an even voice, ready to just get this over with now that he knows there’s no saving it. “Who is he? What’s his name?”

\---

“I still can’t believe he broke up with me for a man called _Knathan_ ,” Louis says from his own sofa the next day. “ _Knathan_ ,” he repeats, enunciating each vowel as if his best friend didn’t hear him the first time. “Like, do you know how embarrassing that is? This guy doesn’t even have a real name. The K is _silent_ for fuck’s sake. He’s already got a whole extra letter, and now, he has my fucking boyfriend.”

 _“Good_ ,” Zayn speaks up in full support of Louis being dumped on his arse. “Logan was a prick anyway. They deserve each other.”

Every word of what Zayn said is true, but it still makes Louis sad to think of all the time he wasted putting his faith into someone who didn’t even love him back.

“I just… I thought we were really going to be together, you know?”

Zayn momentarily glances away from Louis’ kettle to give him a flat look. “Fuck off. You did not.”

“Alright, I didn’t. He was a prick, but I did think we’d at least make it further than this. This is even worse than the Peter fiasco last year.” That barely even lasted two weeks and Louis is _still_ amazed he managed to put up with him for that long.

“You’ll find somebody one day, Lou,” his best friend assures him as he carefully hands Louis a steaming mug of his favorite tea. “Somebody good who doesn’t prefer men with dumb names or having sex at precisely 11:11 each night.” Louis would like to think so, but it’s getting harder and harder with each failed attempt he makes.

“I don’t know, Z. I mean, maybe all the good ones are taken and now that’s all that’s left. Just a lifetime of Logans and oddly scheduled fucks.”

He sighs down at his tea, but is only able to sulk for a couple of seconds before his best friend effectively flicks him in the ear.

“Those idiots don’t deserve you, Lou.” Which is as close to sympathy as he’s going to get from Zayn. “Now, drink your cuppa,” he orders with a squeeze to his shoulder. “It’s getting cold.”

“Thanks, Z. And thanks for coming over.”

“Of course I came over. He was a prick, but you’re my best friend.”

Three Months Later

“Okay guys, what would you say are five adjectives that best describe me? So far, I’ve got fun, dependable, and friendly.” Louis chews at his lip as he scrolls through his new dating profile wondering if the photo of him off his face at the Manchester game last year is more fun or sporty slash athletic.

“Do not put that!” Zayn yells from somewhere in his flat as his other, _nicer_ best friend, Liam, offers him an encouraging grin.

“I think those sounds great, Lou.”

So did Louis, but the look of outrage on Zayn’s face when he pops his head into his living room says otherwise.

“Yeah, it’s great if he’s a Beagle looking for a bloody furever home,” Zayn scoffs. “We’re trying to get him laid not adopted.”

Louis doesn’t even have time to stick up for his chosen personality traits before Zayn is flopping down next to him wearing his hoodie and stealing his laptop.

“Let’s see here,” Zayn mumbles as Liam takes a seat right next to him so he can see. “Okay, _friendly_ has to go. You’re not a Golden Retriever with his tail wagging,” he mumbles as he deletes the adjective and types _outgoing_ instead, going through critiquing every word that Louis chose and replacing it with something better. “ _Fun_ is good. We’ll keep that, but we’re adding _funny_ too because you’re hilarious. And, _dependable_ is also a good one, but I think _genuine_ fits you as well. You wear your heart on your sleeve.”

Louis frowns at that, making Zayn grin and Liam chuckle next to him. “Vulnerability isn’t a bad thing, Lou. Zayn’s right.”

Zayn thinks he knows everything. He works on Louis’ profile for much longer than Louis did, proofreading his bio, thankfully catching _two_ typos Louis made in his haste to write it, and then saving Louis’ photos for last.

“Oi! I like that one! What’s wrong with the Manchester picture?” he demands when Zayn rudely moves it to the last available slot. Out of all of them, Louis thought that one was the best representation of himself; happy, and smiling with his friends, and wearing the best jersey on the planet.

“There’s nothing _wrong_ with it. It’s great.”

“Then why are you adding the one from your sister’s birthday?”

“Well, for starters, you were actually sober here. Your hair is always nice when it’s messy, and that turquoise shirt you love so much makes your eyes look incredible. Much better than any dumb red jersey,” Zayn grins as he slides the photo to the main slot and checks the ‘complete’ box at the top of the page. “You’re fit, mate. People should know that.” His compliment is almost enough to make Louis forgive that underhanded dig at his team that didn’t go unnoticed.

Apparently, his fit profile has already caught the attention of at least one person as his inbox dings with its first message. It dings again with another potential match before Louis can even read his first message and all his best friend does is smirk in triumph.  “Told you.”

*

Niall looks up from his television screen with wide eyes when Harry comes slamming through the door of his flat and starts pacing his living room in a suit that looks way too nice to be seen in Niall’s neighborhood, let alone his building.

“Something wrong, H?” He asks his clearly agitated best friend.

Harry stops pacing and turns to stare at Niall like he’s just realizing he’s there. Niall waves. Harry blinks, shaking his head and scrubbing his face with both hands. 

“Hi, Niall,” Harry says, dropping his hands with a heavy sigh. “Sorry for just barging in like that.”

Niall shrugs, not all that bothered. If it was a burglar or something, then he’d be worried. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

Harry scoffs, spreading his arms in a sort of half-shrug before they drop to his sides again like he doesn’t even have the energy for that much work. He stalks over and drops down next to Niall on his sofa, immediately dropping his head to Niall’s shoulder. “Worst date ever.”

“Aww, Haz,” Niall coos, dropping his arm around Harry’s shoulder to tug him in closer and give him the cuddle he needs. “Wanna talk about it?”

Harry whines and turns his face into Niall’s shirt, shaking his head in answer.

“After that guy with the puppets, it can’t have been that bad, can it?”

Harry whines again and nods this time. His face is pressed into Niall so thoroughly that Niall’s shirt lifts with the movement. 

“How much worse was it?” Niall asks incredulously. That puppet guy was creepy. Harry had sent pictures.

Harry lifts his head slowly and looks at Niall with tired eyes. “He was wearing cat ears and a tail, Niall.” 

Niall considers that and shrugs. “Doesn’t sound too bad.”

“He kept purring at me and said ‘meow’ after every other word. That’s not what putting ‘ _loves cats_ ’ on a dating profile is supposed to mean.” 

“Still not as bad as puppet guy.”

Harry grasped Niall’s cheeks and stared into his eyes, something haunted in his stare. “He _licked_ me goodnight and then insinuated that I was welcome to join him at his place because he’s, and I quote, ‘in heat’.”

“Okay, that’s worse,” Niall concedes.

“I’m done, Niall,” Harry says plaintively, releasing Niall’s face to dig his phone out of his pocket. “I’m deleting my profile from this stupid fucking dating site and going to the pet shelter tomorrow to get started on my future as the neighborhood cat lady.”

“I think you could have started it tonight, if you wanted,” Niall mumbles to himself.

Harry glares. “Not funny.”

“Alright, come on, gimme this,” Niall says stealing Harry’s phone before he can get rid of his profile. It’s open but he didn’t have time to delete before Niall nicked it. Good.

“Hey. Give that back!” Harry proceeds to try to wrestle the phone from Niall’s hands.

“I’ll go for a nut punch,” Niall threatens and Harry backs off in favor of covering his bits. He knows Niall doesn’t bluff when it comes to nut punches. “Now look,” Niall says in his most soothing tone of voice, tucking the phone in his own pocket for safe-keeping. ”I know you’ve had a rough couple of dates—”

“Nine, Niall,” Harry cuts him off to inform him. “ _Nine_. That’s more than a couple!”

“Okay, I get it.” Niall raises his hands in a show of surrender. “You haven’t had much luck in the love department lately.”

“Try _any_ ,” Harry mumbles sulkily.

Niall sighs, putting his arm around Harry again and basically forcing cuddles on him. Not that it takes Harry long to sink into it, he’s never really been able to resist a good cuddle. “You can’t just give up, H. You got a lot of love to give, mate. You just need to find the right person to give it to.”

“The right person to give it to obviously isn’t on the Mighty Aphrodite site, Niall.”

“You never know, Harry. New people are signing up every day! Maybe the tenth time’s the charm,” Niall rubs Harry’s shoulder comfortingly.

Harry sighs through his nose and gives Niall a doubtful glance. “Can I have my phone back now?”

“Sure,” Niall shrugs carelessly, tugging the phone free of his pocket but keeping it out of the reach of Harry’s outstretched hand. “On one condition.”

“No, Niall. I’m not setting you up with my sister,” Harry narrows his eyes at him. Niall knows better, he’s been trying to get Harry to set him up with Gemma for years and Harry’s answer has never changed.

“Cute. But no,” Niall replies, pinching Harry’s shoulder for that remark. “I want you to swear to me that you’ll give the dating site one last chance. Pick one more guy, just one, and send him a message. If he doesn’t answer within a day or two, or if he does and it goes badly, I’ll delete the damn thing myself.”

“ _Fine_ ,” Harry rolls his eyes, gripping his phone tightly when Niall finally releases it. “I’ll do it tomorrow. I’m too tired tonight.” He picks himself up off the couch and moves towards Niall’s bedroom. “By the way, I’m crashing in your bed.”

“Yep,” Niall answers, waving Harry on. He expected no less.

*

“Nope,” Harry mutters, navigating away from another questionable profile. Honestly, he’s losing hope.

He clicks back to the list of possible matches for himself and scrolls for a minute, checking the time in the bottom right corner of his computer screen. He has ten more minutes of his fifteen-minute break to search before he has to get back to work designing PharmaCorp’s new website. He stops for a moment to rub at his tired eyes. He didn’t sleep well last night, nightmares about cats plaguing him well into the morning hours.

Opening his eyes again, it takes a moment for his vision to clear but when it does he sits up straight in his seat, staring at one of the profile pictures on his screen. He clicks on the name next to it and then he’s looking at a larger copy of the photo, the profile of one Louis Tomlinson open beside it.

“Louis,” Harry reads to himself, turning his eyes back to the picture of the gorgeous man with ridiculously blue eyes. Harry’s not stupid, he knows that shirt the guy is wearing is helping him out, but damn, Harry isn’t sure he needs it with eyes like that. He’s pretty sure he spends a good five minutes just swooning over the picture before he gets back to reading the actual profile. 

_Louis Tomlinson_

_Five adjectives that describe me: outgoing, fun, funny, dependable, genuine_

So far so good. And Harry loves the use of the word ‘genuine’. Not many people can say that these days, or would think to.

_Favorite Movie: Grease_

_Favorite Book: Ready Player One_

Harry reads through Louis’ list of favorites and likes what he sees there too. They’re an eclectic mix of answers that don’t seem like someone trying too hard to look cool like so many other people on the site. They seem, well, genuine.

Harry has saved his favorite part for last, Louis’ Bio. This is the part that usually makes or breaks the match.

_So this is the part where you wanna know about me, huh? Okay. Here goes. I’m sick of lousy boyfriends. I want someone kind and funny and willing to spend more time with me than his television for once. I don’t think that’s asking for much. It’s not like I’m asking for poetry or anything (though I will accept poetry if you’re so inclined). If you like tattoos and spontaneous love making and are not a fan of silent ‘k’s, Congratulations! You’re still in the running to become Britain’s Next Top Dating Prospect. Please message me immediately. P.S. If you send poetry (dirty limericks notwithstanding), you go to the top of the list to get a reply. P.S.S. Just kidding, dirty limericks go to the very top of the list. ;)_

Harry snickers at Louis’ sense of humor, though he doesn’t really get the silent ‘k’ thing. He’s impressed, Louis does actually seem to fit all five of the adjectives he gave to describe himself.  

Glancing at the clock, Harry notices that he’s three minutes past his break time. His heart sinks because for the first time in a while, he was actually excited to send someone on this awful dating site a message. 

Harry stares at the little ‘x’ in the corner of the screen. He should really close the site and get back to work.

Well, maybe just a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt, he thinks, opening a message to Louis.

 

_Dear Louis,_

_There once was a man from Great Britain …_

*

It’s barely even past noon when Louis loses his own game of ‘don’t look at the clock’ and finds that it has hardly moved since the last time he glanced at it against his better judgement. This work day simply will not end, and clearly he is the only person bothered by this fact since his office partner is hard at work across from him. The feverish clicking of his keyboard is almost enough to drive Louis up a wall most days, but rather than scream into the endless work void about it or stab Ewan with a paperclip, Louis chooses to take the higher road and simply ignore it all.

The Mighty Aphrodite dating site isn’t quite the big grant proposal he was tasked with completing today, but it _is_ a great distraction for the self-imposed break he is now officially on. He signs into his account the same way he has these past few days he has been a member and finds the giant pink heart beside his inbox impatiently flashing at him once again.

He is a little wary about the two new messages awaiting him. If Mighty Aphrodite has taught him anything this week, it’s that the internet dating world is just as crazy and full of weirdos as the physical dating world. But, at least here Louis has the upper hand in firstly, identifying said weirdos, and then secondly, running for the fucking hills.

Message number one is from someone called Aaron who is an immediate no with the all-caps greeting he sent an hour ago alongside a complimentary picture of his dick, which in all honesty, isn’t half as disturbing as his second match, Timothy, who is apparently seeking a co-king to sit upon the throne of darkness and rule the underworld with him. Louis kindly declines both tempting offers, telling Aaron thanks, but no thanks before explaining to Timothy that he is extremely flattered to be considered, however the royal life just isn’t his thing and the dark sort of freaks him out. Thankfully, neither men reply.

Louis reaches for his tea which has now gone cold and takes a few long sips. Having to deal with those two was nearly exhausting enough to drive Louis back to work, however just as his cursor hovers over the button to log out, his inbox flashes with a brand new message.

Should he dare? At only four hours into an eight-hour work day, there’s still loads of time left for more kingship proposals and unsolicited genitalia, but surely the worst is now behind him. He opens Harry Styles’ message with squinted eyes, braced for another erect penis to come flying at him but there’s just words. _Rhyming_ words, Louis realizes after a moment, which means someone actually took the time to read his profile. Imagine that.

‘ _There once was a man from Great Britain,_

_Whose sail boat was set for a mission._

_A fit guy walked by_

_With blue eyes and thick thighs,_

_Now the sail wasn’t all that had risen.’_

Cold tea goes shooting out of his mouth and all over his computer screen as an unexpected snort takes him by surprise. His office-mate, Ewan, blinks up from his own screen for the first time in hours with his expression twisted up in what looks to be concern for his adult-age partner who has yet to master the subtle art of drinking from a mug.

“Er- Hi. Sorry about that,” Louis offers as he cleans himself and his computer with the end of his shirt sleeve. “Last sip went down wrong, I guess.”

“Right. Careful, there,” Ewan blinks at him before ducking his head to resume his usual position of his head being permanently stuck up his arse. At least that way he’s not paying attention to Louis not working as hard as him.

He rereads Harry’s poem, this time without the tea and yet he still cracks a smile. Most of the men who have messaged him haven’t gotten past their initial greeting, but there may just be something about this one that’s worth further exploration. He clicks the tiny picture beside Harry’s name and nearly chokes again when it opens to a much larger picture of the most beautiful man Louis has ever seen.

“ _Ho...ly_ _shit_ ,” he marvels, making Ewan quirk a suspicious eyebrow at him from behind his computer and Louis force a few superficial coughs into his fist. “Holy shit was that tea strong,” he exclaims, “And, Jesus, is this proposal looking good!”

Ewan ignores him and his outbursts as per usual and Louis’ attention goes right back to one angelic Harry Styles, a man who looks almost too good to be real. His eyes are like sea glass and springtime glinting at Louis from behind a wide smile and a sharp jawline, softened by the pair of dimples on either side of his cheeks. Louis has only ever seen hair like his in movies and magazines, artfully swept into place in full, dark waves that only grow longer and more spiraled the further back into his pictures that Louis clicks. This man is beautiful in every picture, from a night at the pub to the top of a fucking mountain he apparently climbed; however, the one image that seals the deal for Louis is the photo of Harry at what looks to be his workplace, leaned back in swivel chair with a laptop in his lap, his heeled boots propped up on his desk, and a pair of long legs that Louis wouldn’t at all mind having wrapped around his waist or even elsewhere.

A little flurry of nerves make themselves known at the pit of Louis’ stomach as he replies to Harry’s message. No one else on this site has hardly made Louis look twice, so he actually welcomes the sensation.

‘ _Did you come up with that beauty on the spot or was it more of a tale of personal experience? Also, you owe me a new laptop,_ ’ he sends, chewing at his bottom lip as he waits to see if this guy really is too good to be true. Every second that ticks by feels like a century until the gods smile down on him and Harry finally replies.

‘ _I was feeling extra inspired after reading your bio and decided to give it a go,”_ Harry sends back, quickly followed by, ‘ _How’d I do? And, wait. Why do I owe you a laptop again haha?”_

_‘I literally spat out my tea. It wasn’t pretty.’_

_‘Wowed by my elegant prose and turn of phrase, then?’_

That, and the fact that Harry already seems like the first decent, genuine person he’s met on this site. Not to mention he’s fucking gorgeous.

‘ _So, Shakespeare, what happens next? With the sailor and the fit guy, I mean. You can’t just leave me hanging._ ’

‘ _Hmm… I’m not sure_. _I think their fate now rests with you_. _Balls literally in your court_ ,’ Harry sends making Louis snort again and then cough so Ewan doesn’t think he’s insane. Or rather, _more_ insane. Louis goes to reply once he’s done faking it, but Harry is already typing again. “ _Sadly, I’ve gone way over my break and need to head back to work for now, but I look forward to hearing the end of their epic love saga. And just for the record, Louis, your eyes are truly something._ _Can’t really blame the sailor for being a bit distracted.’_

Louis closes his laptop with the world’s biggest blush spreading across his face as well as the universe’s largest smile. Logan surely never said things like that to him. Neither has anybody else for that matter, but he sure likes the way it makes him feel. He sighs up at the ceiling as he leans back in his own swivel chair and props up his feet, almost toppling right out of it when he remembers he’s still at work and still only half-finished with this fucking grant proposal.

*

Harry’s checked his phone probably 50 times since leaving work. It was truly unfortunate finding Louis when he did, getting to chat with him just for a few minutes before Harry absolutely _had_ to get back to work. And get back to work he did, ignoring everything but the website he was designing until he’d finished, tweaking a few things at the behest of his client until he’d gotten their full seal of approval.

He’d checked his phone the second he’d left work to see if he had any new messages and was highly disappointed when he didn’t. Maybe Louis was turned off by Harry’s abrupt departure from their conversation.

Harry’s leg jiggles the whole bus ride home, and he looks at his phone more than a few times. Should he message Louis again? Apologize for not being able to give Louis his undivided attention earlier?

No, he decides. If Louis actually is all of the things that he said on his profile, he wouldn’t hold it against Harry for having to do his job. Maybe Louis is just busy too. Harry really hopes he’s just busy. It’s entirely possible Harry has picked another bad apple from a fucking orchard of them, but he’s hoping that’s not the case. Louis seemed like a pleasant surprise on a site that’s given Harry nothing but nightmares. He’s got a good feeling about Louis, and good things are worth waiting for.

Harry takes one last peek at his phone and then shoves it in his pocket for the remainder of the ride. Out of sight, out of… well, sight. Because there’s no way his mind will be free of those blue eyes any time soon.

When he gets home, he toes his shoes off at the door and goes to his room to change out of his work clothes and into something more comfy. He tugs on a t-shirt and some joggers and moves to his kitchen to see what’s available for dinner. He has all the makings for some homemade pizza but he’s not quite in the mood for that, plus he figures he should save that for when he’s having Niall over. He kind of owes Niall after his friend let him pout all over him and then crash in his bed.  He’s just made himself a modest salad and is sitting down in front of his television when he feels the vibration of a notification on his phone in his pocket. Setting his salad on the coffee table, he pulls the phone out eagerly and finds that he has an email from Mighty Aphrodite.

_You have 2 messages from your matches!_

Harry gasps with excitement, opening the website on his phone. The little blinking heart next to his inbox beckons him. He’s got a message from Tom (cat guy, as Niall likes to call him) but Harry ignores it for now. He’ll deal with that later. His other message is from Louis and that definitely takes precedence.

_There once was sailor named Harry_

_Who was rather extraordinary._

_His limericks made pants drop_

_(and fit guys ruin laptops),_

_Are you happy to see me or is that your pocket dictionary?_

_Perhaps not as eloquent as yours, but I don’t have a pocket dictionary of my own. :p_

Harry presses a hand to his mouth to cover the loud bark of laughter that escapes him at Louis’ limerick. The rhythm is a little off but it’s funny, cute, and somewhat unexpected, rather like Louis himself.

There’s a little green dot by Louis’ name indicating that he’s still online so Harry opens a chat window.

 **HStyles** _: Did my limerick really make your pants drop?_

 **Ltomlinson** _: I just said pants, not necessarily mine._

Harry smirks.

 **Hstyles** : _Who else have you been showing my poetry to then?_

 **Ltomlinson** _: Cheeky… I like it. So, Harry. Tell me about yourself._

 **Hstyles:** _Well, I’m a poet. Obviously. :p Just kidding. I’m really not, but what did you want to know? Did my bio and list of favorites not tell you absolutely everything you need to know about me? Are we not ready to get married yet?_

 **Ltomlinson:** _xD You are joking, right? Please say yes._

 **Hstyles:** _Lol. I am. Honestly, I’ve been burned so many times with this site that I think I probably need to take it a lot slower from now on._

Harry waits anxiously for Louis’ response to that. If he’s looking for something serious right away, then Harry probably isn’t the guy for him. If there’s any chance that they could have something, Harry wants to make sure it’s right for both of them before they dive too deep.

 **Ltomlinson:** _That makes sense. This is my first time on a dating site. I should probably take it slow too to keep myself from getting into trouble. :P_

Harry breathes a sigh of relief. Maybe Niall was right. Maybe Louis could be his charm. His heart warms at the thought.

They talk for another hour, joking playfully and getting to know each other. It’s not until Louis signs off with him and he puts his phone away that Harry notices his limp salad, forgotten on the coffee table.

*

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing. What are _you_ doing?” Louis fires back at his best friend on Saturday afternoon.

“Watching you hold your phone in the air near the window, upside down like it actually does anything to improve the signal?”

Little does Zayn know, it works fucking wonders on the signal because no sooner than he mocks Louis’ efforts does a new message from Harry appear on his screen.

“Let me guess. Harry?”

“ _Harry_ ,” Louis grins. It seems these days he’s always doing that whenever Harry is involved whether it be from an early morning text detailing a random and yet hilarious dream he had the night before, or even just a quick message to say _hi_ because Harry was thinking about him. Those happen to be Louis’ favorites because whenever he receives them, he’s usually just a few seconds away from texting Harry for the very same reason, which is really something in Louis’ opinion considering they have yet to meet face to face.

“What’s he saying?”

Louis reads over his new text, feeling himself grin all over again.

“He told me a joke,” he reveals. “Why couldn’t the bicycle stand up on its own?” Louis asks, pausing for dramatic effect and earning nothing but Zayn’s flat, bored face in return. “It was _two tired_.”

“That was the worst joke in the history of jokes,” he deadpans.

“I know. Wasn’t it _wheelie_ funny?” Louis smirks, not missing the hard grimace his best friend makes after he says it.

Louis is already texting Harry that exact pun in response when he notices Zayn watching him with interest. “Things seem to be going rather well between you two,” he comments just as Louis hits send.

“They are. They’re going very well,” Louis agrees. They’ve even graduated from only communicating through Mighty Aphrodite to exchanging phone numbers. It hasn’t even been a full two weeks and things are already going smoothly. So smoothly in fact that Louis’ a bit surprised there haven’t been any hiccups. Usually by now, Louis has already ignored half a dozen red flags and warning signs that his relationship is doomed before it even begins, but so far with Harry, there haven’t been any. The man couldn’t tell a joke to save his life of course, but that’s not red flag material. It’s a happy little yellow flag with sparkles and hearts that just makes Louis like him more.

“Wow. That’s super great,” Zayn says, making his praise sound oddly sarcastic. “So, when do I meet him?”

“Er…” _What?_ Louis blinks down at the new string of laughing emojis he just received and then over at his best friend waiting for a response. “Er- Isn’t it usually customary for the two people _within_ the potential relationship to meet first?”

“My point exactly. How long is this messaging back and forth going to go on for? You could be talking to anybody.”

“I’m not talking to just anybody. I’m talking to _Harry_.”

“Who could be a one-hundred-year-old lady sitting on a park bench somewhere messaging you in between feeding the bloody birds.”

Louis frowns at his logic, but finds that he can’t really argue with it. People make fake profiles every day, and at times, Harry really does seem too good to be true.

“Ugh, god damn it. Why’d you have to go and fuck up my virtual relationship?” Louis complains, now questioning if every message and text Harry has sent him over the past two weeks really came from a Margery or an Ingrid. Maybe even a Bob. “You’re such a dick.”

“At least you know I actually have one. That’s more than you can say for Harry,” Zayn quips back. He doesn’t even flinch when Louis reaches over to smack him in the forehead.

*

It’s later that night when Louis’ in bed that he gets yet another text from Harry that makes him grin into his pillow.

_‘It’s getting late, so I’m heading to bed. Didn’t want to go without wishing you goodnight xx’_

Louis was just about to say the same thing to Harry, realizing how tired he feels after his long day, but he couldn’t possibly sleep now with the way his stomach is fluttering. It’s the butterflies that Louis loves and what he’d very much like to keep. He just needs to make sure he can trust them with his whole heart first.

‘ _Harry? This is going to sound weird, but please tell me you are who you say you are and not just some wonderfully charming and thoughtful catfish._ ”

‘ _Why?’_ Harry sends a few beats later. ‘ _Feeling… hooked?_ ’

Louis splutters a laugh at that, feeling even more at ease when Harry goes as far as offering to video chat with him a while if it would make him more comfortable. And Louis thinks that would be a fantastic idea. If he looked less like a hedgehog with his hair all over the place from burrowing into his duvet.

‘ _I’d like that one day, but could I maybe get a picture of you instead? One that isn’t from your profile if it’s not too much trouble?_ ’ he specifies. It feels like ages before Harry says anything back, during which Louis fears he has scared him off.

‘ _Of course! Should I do anything special in this picture like give a thumbs up so you know it’s me?_ ’

‘ _Sure. Touch your nose_ ,’ Louis tells him, laughing when Harry’s face pops up on his screen a few seconds later, his eyes as green as ever, his hair just as wild as Louis’, and the tip of his index finger pressed to his nose as requested. Louis thinks out of all of Harry’s photos, this one is his favorite, and this time when he gets butterflies about it, he knows they’re well-placed.

 _‘So, do I get a picture too?_ ’ Harry asks a minute later, prompting Louis to touch his own nose and send a mirror image of Harry’s photo back to him.

_‘Happy?’_

_‘Unbelievably so. Goodnight, Lou.’_

_‘Goodnight, H.’_

*

The alarm on Harry’s phone trilling in his ears is what forces his eyes open in the morning. The fact that he has work to get to, a living to earn, is what makes him sit up and give up that blissful feeling of sleep pulling him back under. But when he reaches for his phone to turn off his alarm, it’s the message waiting for him from Louis that wakes him and makes him feel ready for the day ahead.

It’s a small, simple message.

_‘Good morning, gorgeous.’_

But Harry’s heart flutters and his lips quirk and he’s _ready_ for whatever the universe is going to throw at him today.

 _‘Good morning!’_ He sends back along with another selfie of himself touching his nose. He looks goofy with bed hair and a too-wide grin but he doesn’t think Louis will mind.

_‘Cute. You don’t have to touch your nose every time, you adorable git.’_

_‘I do if it makes you think I’m adorable.’_

_‘It doesn’t. It makes me think you’re a git. You’re adorable all on your own.’_ A picture accompanies Louis’ message. In it, he’s making a face and acting like he’s sticking his finger _in_ his nose.

Harry laughs out loud at the unexpected sight, typing a message back quickly. _‘You should be a model. That is some fine artwork if ever I’ve seen it.’_

Louis doesn’t send a single word this time, just another photo of himself striking a pose, finger perched delicately on his nose.

A giggle bubbles out from Harry’s lips. _‘Lovely. I’m printing that out and framing it.’_

_‘Don’t you dare. Also, shouldn’t you be getting ready for work?’_

Harry glances at the time and starts. He’s definitely spent too much time flirting and not enough showering and getting dressed. He’ll have to hurry.

_‘I do need to get ready now but, honestly, this was absolutely the best way I could have spent my morning. #noregrets’_

Louis sends a blushing emoji and Harry gets in the shower already feeling accomplished.

*

“Sooo,” Niall draws out while he watches Harry make him some homemade pizza while stopping every five seconds to read a text on his phone. Well, technically he’s making _them_ homemade pizza but Niall will probably eat the majority of it anyway.

“Sooo,” Harry copies him, smiling at another text that pops up before he glances at Niall. “What’s up?”

“That’s my question, man,” Niall answers, waving a hand at Harry’s phone that keeps lighting up with messages even though Harry isn’t touching it. “What’s up with you and this ‘Louis’ bloke?”

Harry sighs, hands still moving over the dough that’s laid out in front of him. The sauce is spread and the cheese has been sprinkled on. Niall notices that Harry is concentrating especially hard on the rest of the toppings and not looking up at him anymore.  “Nothing’s up,” Harry mutters with a little shrug. “We’re talking.”

“Yeah,” Niall nods along, hoping for more from his best friend. “And you like him. I can tell that much.”

“I do,” Harry agrees easily, lips already quirking when his phone lights up again. “He’s funny,” he says, grin growing as he reads the actual words of the message. “And he’s cute. Gorgeous, really.”

“Sooo, why aren’t you dating then?” Niall finally asks, getting to his point. He never was fond of beating around bushes. “Every other guy from Mighty Aphrodite had been dated and dumped by this point. Why are you taking your time with Louis when you already know you like him?”

Harry puts down the peppers in his hand he’d been decorating the pizza with and puts both hands flat on the countertop, pressing his weight into them. “I’m taking my time precisely _because_ every other guy has been dated and dumped by now, Niall. There was something wrong, some deal-breaker, with every last one of them.” He looks down fondly at his phone, still barraging him with messages. “Right now, Louis is perfect.” He raises his eyes to meet Niall’s and they’re so full of anxious despair as he continues, “but what if I meet him and he dresses as a cat when he goes out, Niall? What if he takes puppets on his dates with him? Or pretends he has a twin brother that’s trying to switch places with him?”

“I still think that could have been true,” Niall murmurs, looking away, unable to handle the anguish in Harry’s eyes. He knows Harry’s been lonely. That’s why he pushed for Harry to keep trying. He didn’t actually think the evil twin guy was that bad though. At the very least, he’d been entertaining.

“They were never in the room at the same time, Niall,” Harry rolls his eyes, picking the peppers back up and getting back to work on their pizza. “The point _is_ that I do like Louis, and that’s why I’m not ready to actually date him. If we take our time and go slow, really get to know and care about each other, then maybe when we meet and he’s got some horrible flaw that would have sent me running before… maybe it won’t matter. Maybe it will be something I can love about him instead.”

“Holy shit, you’ve got it worse than I thought.”

Niall laughs when Harry tosses a slice of bell pepper at him. And then picks it up off the counter and stuffs it into his mouth.

*

_‘How was pizza with Niall?’_

Harry sets his phone down on his night table to pull back his duvet and get comfy in bed before answering.

_‘Almost as good as getting your play by play of what you think happens when making homemade pizza.’_

_‘My mum had to work long hours when I was growing up. We didn’t have a lot of home cooked meals and when we did, it was usually something quick. And then when life settled down after she married my step dad, I was old enough that I was never home to learn those things or appreciate them properly. I guess maybe you’ll have to show me someday.’_

_‘Yeah. I’d like that. Someday.’_ Harry sighs wistfully. He’s already imagining it and falling a little bit in love with the idea. He hopes Louis will be patient with him until he’s ready because right now, he can’t imagine anyone he’d rather have that _someday_ with.

_‘Ready for bed? It’s getting late.’_

_‘Already tucked into bed all snug and cozy.’_ Harry takes a picture of himself all wrapped up in his blankets, fingertip touching his nose.

A few seconds later he gets one back. It’s Louis giving him a sleepy grin, touching his nose with his middle finger. Harry laughs and says goodnight, falling asleep with a smile.

*

The sun is shining when Louis wakes up from a dream he can’t really remember except the feeling of being incredibly happy and impossibly warm. It stays with him as he rolls over in bed and does something he never has before as his hand creeps forward onto the cool mattress. The feeling of elation he’d woken up with fades a bit after he reaches out for someone who isn’t there; has never _been_ there a single morning of Louis’ life, but he longs for him all the same.

Louis has never felt more disappointed than when he opens his eyes to find that the other side of his bed doesn’t contain Harry. It’s not like Louis actually expected it to, but he was sort of hoping against hope that his murky dream of falling asleep next to him had been real.

Unfortunately, there is no one lying beside him so he reaches for his phone instead and sends a quick good morning text, his disappointment no longer weighing quite as heavy as before knowing that Harry is probably reading it right this moment. He counts every second until he finally receives a message back.

‘ _Morning, love._ ’

Louis grins like an idiot at the pet name wondering how a greeting like that would sound coming straight from Harry’s perfect lips. If he’d say it from his pillow with a sleepy smile or if he’d move to cuddle up next to Louis’ side and whisper it softly against his ear. It occurs to Louis in the midst of his early morning fantasy, that he really has no idea. He’s never spoken to Harry outside of messages. He doesn’t know if his voice is quick-paced and bright the way Liam’s sounds or if his words come much slower and measured like Zayn’s. There’s so many things that Louis doesn’t know about him like the softness of his skin or if his hair feels as thick as it looks in every picture he sends. The list goes on and on and it’s not getting any shorter while he just lies here speculating.

‘ _I’d really like to talk to you_ ,’ Louis sends waiting anxiously for Harry to respond.

‘ _Hmm. I was under the impression_ _we’re talking right now_ ,’ he teases, making Louis fondly roll his eyes.

‘ _Yes, I know we are. But, I mean talk for real,_ ’ Louis explains. ‘ _Like,_ _face to face…or at least screen to screen_ ,’ he teases back.

The wait to see what Harry thinks about them taking this next step is agonizing. He could deny him and say no, or even worse, he could say nothing at all. Thankfully he does neither of those things, answering back a minute later with an enthusiastic, _‘Okay, sure! Give me just a sec.’_

Louis springs up in bed with his stomach twisting in nervous little knots even though he’s getting exactly what he asked for, but that doesn’t make it less nerve wracking. He sprints across his bedroom to the mirror hanging beside his wardrobe and runs his fingers through his hair a few times, absolutely loathing how unruly it gets after a night of sleep. He rubs his eyes more awake and then quickly scrubs at his mouth to remove the charming string of dried spit visible there. He should’ve planned better. He should’ve at least suggested they do this _after_ he had a chance to fucking shower and make himself look like a human, but there’s no time for that now. There isn’t even time enough for him to brush his teeth before the sound of his phone ringing with an incoming call nearly causes him to jump out of his skin.

He quickly runs back the way he came, doing a full leap into the bed to answer it. All he can do is take a deep breath and hope for the best when he accepts the call to find the same beautiful smile and pair of emerald eyes he’s been falling for staring back at him.

“Hey,” a deep voice says, slow and easy like warm bathwater that Louis would gladly drown in. “Morning, love.”

“Hey. Morning,” Louis breathes back, trying his hardest to keep his dumb smile under control.

“I can’t believe it’s really you,” Harry admits, rendering Louis’ efforts to be cool completely useless as a legitimate blush creeps up his cheeks.

“Me either. I think I was still half-expecting you to be some old lady,” he jokes, giving birth to the brightest and best cackle he’s ever heard.

“Even after all the pictures?” Harry exclaims. “Is there no trust in online dating anymore?” Louis wouldn’t say that. He doesn’t know why, but he feels as though he can trust Harry completely. He can only hope the sentiment goes both ways. “So, Louis, how’d you sleep?” Harry asks after his little outburst.

“Me? Oh, alright,” Louis shrugs, not mentioning the lapse in reality his sleepy brain made thinking Harry was lying next to him. “And you?”

“Mmm, pretty good,” he hums, his brow furrowing a bit at the camera as he thinks. “I had a really good dream I can’t remember most of the details of, but _you_ were definitely there.”

Just knowing he was even on Harry’s mind has Louis’ biting down on a dopey smile. “Really? Me?”

“Oh, yeah. Someone had to drive our getaway car through Tokyo and stash all the diamonds we stole.”

An unexpected laugh bubbles up out of Louis imagining either of them trying to rob anything.

“Your dream sounds _way_ more exciting than mine,” he snorts.

“Oh? What was yours then? Was I there? Did I have a super cool job like secret agent assassin or high-stakes poker champion of the world?”

“Um, not quite. I can’t remember any bad guys or poker chips,” he laughs again. “Er- Mostly, I think you were just here with me. We fell asleep together.” Louis shrugs, glancing at the empty space beside him and feeling his cheeks warm again for admitting something like that. “See? Told you your dream was more exciting,” he teases.

Louis’ not sure what he expects to see when he blinks back up at his screen, but it’s definitely not the fondness and softness in Harry’s eyes that awakens every butterfly in his stomach.

“I like yours better,” he says. “Sounds amazing. Wish I could’ve been there.”

Harry’s not the only one.

*

Harry is having a pretty horrible day at work. He’s a day and a half behind on his new designs for the SoundsLegit website and his boss had let him know in a one-on-one meeting this morning that he’s not happy about it. Then, at lunchtime, Harry realized that he had left his lunch at home and the only vending machine that will take his card is broken. So here he is, an hour from quitting time, and he’s fucking starving. And all of this crap has been going on _while_ he’s been reliving his conversation with Louis from this morning. He wasn’t lying when he said he wished he could be there, right next to Louis. He often wishes that, but it’s always followed up by this clench of fear in his chest that when he is finally with him, everything is going to go to shit. Harry is desperate to never see that reality.

 _Just a little while longer_ , he tells himself. And he’s not sure if he’s talking about lasting the day or something else entirely.

When it’s finally time to head home, Harry grabs his jacket and skedaddles as quickly as he can before something else goes wrong. That’s just the kind of day he’s had.

On the bus ride home, Harry pulls out his phone to check the time and sees half a dozen texts waiting from Louis. A grin automatically pulls at his cheeks as he opens his messages.

_‘I took a work selfie to send you and coworker Ewan looked at me like I was a lunatic.’_

Following the first message is a photo of Louis with his tongue sticking out and his finger pushing up the tip of his nose to give the appearance of a snout. Harry barks out a laugh at the unexpected surprise, earning curious stares from the rest of the bus. He doesn’t even care if he should be embarrassed because Louis has just turned a shitty day on its ear with a single photograph.

The next message was sent an hour after the photo.

_‘Is it too early in the relationship for you to see my morning face?’_

And then…

_‘Maybe a lunchtime face?’_

And then there’s another photo of Louis with an orange peel smile, eyes wide and full of manic energy, fingertip pressed to his nose just like always. Harry can’t stop smiling.

The last message is from half an hour ago and makes Harry’s chest warm with fondness.

_‘I hope you’re having a great day, love. Miss you. xx’_

Harry doesn’t even wait until he’s off the bus like he normally would. He can’t. He needs to talk to Louis now and a text just doesn’t seem like enough. He pulls up Louis’ contact information and hits send, putting the phone to his ear just in time to hear the ringtone. Louis answers after two rings.

“Harry?”

“Hey.” There’s a softness to his tone that no one else gets, it’s just for Louis. When Harry realizes this, he knows he’s already a goner.

“Hey. Is everything okay?” Louis asks. His voice is soothing and Harry closes his eyes, smile turning serene at the sound of it.

“Yeah,” Harry answers. “It is now. I’ve missed you too, by the way.”

“Harold, you big sap. You’re making me blush.”

Harry chuckles. “I’d like to see that. Maybe we should FaceTime.”

“We could,” Louis agrees, then seems to hesitate before speaking again. “Um, I kind of had another idea though, if you’re up for it.”

Harry’s stomach erupts into a flurry of nervousness as he asks, “What’s your idea?”

“We could have a Skype date,” Louis suggests, sounding nervous. Maybe he expects Harry to be reluctant. “I mean, just like, watching Netflix in the comfort of our own homes with each other on the screen so we can talk?”

 _Oh_. That is an idea that Harry can get behind. “That sounds incredible actually. I am definitely up for a Skype date tonight.”

“Okay,” Louis replies, and Harry can hear the smile in his voice, a breathy, shy quality to it. “It’s been ages since I asked someone on a date. It went better than expected.”

“Well, I mean, I get to see your beautiful face again. That’s a hard deal to pass up on,” Harry flirts with a laugh. “I’m hoping for more orange peels and pig snouts.”

Louis tsks. “I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed then, babe. That was earlier, before work sucked the soul out of me. All I have left is sleepy eyes and bed head.”

Harry hums in approval, eyes spying something out the window as the bus stops to let more people on. “That sounds even better. Cozy,” he says as he exits the bus. It’s not his stop but he’s not far from home now. He can walk the rest. “What do you say, I let you go for now and we can both get comfy and get dinner or movie snacks to eat while we watch and I’ll call you on Skype at seven?”

“Yeah, I— Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Great,” Harry says walking with purpose towards his new destination, already pulling his wallet out of his pocket. “Text me your Skype contact? I can’t wait to see you, Lou.”

“You too, babe.”

*

Harry stares at his computer screen, a bundle of anticipation.

_LWTommo ringing…_

Louis answers almost immediately and there Harry’s grin goes again, taking over his whole face at the sight of this lovely human being that he’s growing increasingly attached to. “Hello, beautiful.”

Louis smiles, and then breathes out a cute little laugh before burying his face in his hands for a moment. When he raises his head back up, he’s pursing his lips together in an obvious effort not to smile and rolls his eyes towards the ceiling momentarily before training them back on Harry. “Did you seriously buy me flowers, Harold? For a Skype date?”

“What, these old things?” Harry asks, looking down at the flowers in his hands, a beautiful bouquet of alstroemerias. They’re small but stunning, just like Louis. “I did actually, yeah.”

“God, that’s adorable,” Louis says quietly and Harry’s not certain he was supposed to hear it. “They’re beautiful, Harry. Thank you.”

“I’m just going to put them in some water for you,” He says, dropping them into a vase he already had ready so that he doesn’t have to waste any amount of time that could be spent with his date. He holds the vase up so that Louis can see it with a cheesy smile and wave of his hand like he’s saying ‘ta dah’.

Louis snorts and rolls his eyes at Harry’s antics but his lips stay turned up at the corners. That’s definitely a win in Harry’s book.

*

Harry’s eyes have been all lit up like fireworks every time he smiles at Louis from the opposite side of the bed. Louis reaches out to touch him, his stomach flipping when Harry meets him half-way and their hands touch skin to skin rather than skin to computer screen as they did earlier in the night before one of them finally broke down and suggested they continue their movie date in person. It was by far the best decision they could’ve made, because now instead of wishing all this time to kiss Harry and finally taste those beautiful lips of his, Louis simply leans over and does it.

Their mouths meet and slot together better than any two puzzle pieces ever created just like their hands fitting perfectly one inside the other. Louis is met with no resistance at all when his arms wrap around Harry’s waist to draw him closer. He smells so good and familiar to him already despite never being here before, and his skin is so creamy and soft it’s like silk beneath Louis’ palms. Or, a three-hundred thread-count pillowcase which is apparently what Louis has been seducing all night instead of his super fit, super elusive online boyfriend whom he has never so much as touched.

“ _Fuuuuck_ ,” Louis groans out as soon as he opens his eyes and realizes he really was just snogging his pillow. He slings it as far away from him as he can but it doesn’t go far when the corner of it gets caught on his laptop. It’s still sitting open with a blackened screen because he forgot to attach the charger somewhere between Fight Club and The Notebook. The last thing he remembers is Allie and Noah kissing in the rain on his television screen and the soft smile Harry wore while watching them. If only he could’ve seen that smile in person instead of on his computer.

Louis buries his face in his mattress. He can’t believe he fell asleep during their date. Their date that took him all day yesterday just to get up the courage to ask Harry for. He also can’t believe that his Harry dreams have gotten so vivid and real to the point that he literally licked a pillow.

Truth be told, he has been missing Harry quite a lot. He was sure a Skype date with just the two of them would make that feeling go away, and it did at first. For a few hours last night, Louis was on cloud nine laughing and joking with the person he waited all day to be able to hang out with. Harry was just so lovely and charming as always. The man even got him flowers for fuck’s sake which is more effort than any other person he’s dated has ever put in for him. Louis wishes with all his heart that he could’ve smelled their beautiful petals and kept them. He also wishes he actually had asked Harry to come over to his for their date. Maybe then he wouldn’t be sitting here missing him still.

Fed up, Louis reaches beneath the sheets for his phone which turns out to also be dead so there’s no way he can call him up right now. But, as soon as it charges he’ll Skype, message, call, Face Time, or even send fucking smoke signals to let him know how he feels. It’s past time really.

It’s later in the day when Liam and Zayn come over for apparently no reason whatsoever other than to eat all his food and quality snacks. Usually, Louis would join in their destruction of his kitchen but he’s kind of in a mood right now and his stomach just isn’t in it. Neither is his heart for that matter. Not when it’s beating for someone he chickened out of confessing his love for this morning because he’s a coward and because feelings are scary in a normal relationship much less the one he and Harry are in.

“What’s up with you today?” Zayn says, flicking an M&M at him to get his attention. It bounces off Louis’ head and lands on the kitchen table from which Zayn retrieves it and then pops it into his mouth with all the others. “You look like someone just told you Ronaldo is retiring.”

Louis stops gazing down at his phone to cut his eyes over at him. “ _Never_ joke about that,” he warns, but his words don’t carry much weight with the heavy sigh he makes right after. Now, Liam is watching him too, his eyebrows furrowed together as he eats the last of the Chinese food Louis ordered for dinner a couple of nights ago.

“Are you feeling okay, Lou?” Liam gently presses the back of his hand to the same place Zayn hit him with an M&M to check his temperature.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Liam raises an unconvinced eyebrow at that. “You don’t _look_ fine.”

“That’s because he’s still pouting,” Zayn mumbles through a mouthful of chocolate.

“I am not _pouting_. I’m just not sure what to do about Harry. Which really sucks because I really, really like him and I just don’t want to fuck this up before it’s even really begun and…and…” Louis looks up at his friends’ bored faces and rolls his eyes. “Okay, fine. I’m pouting.”

“I don’t get what it is you’re so afraid of,” Liam says, giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze. “You seem good for each other and you both obviously want to make this work, but you know nothing can ever come of it if you’re too scared to truly get to know him or you go into it already expecting him to hurt you.”

Louis feels like he does truly know him and so far, he’s amazing. He’s kinder and more thoughtful than any other person Louis has ever dated. He doesn’t want to think that’ll change and he’ll be hurt in the end because of it, but then again, who ever does?

He looks to his other best friend, who just smirks at him.

“I agree with Li. Grow a pair, meet your boyfriend so you can date him properly and be disgustingly in love, and stop frowning so much,” he says, smoothing the skin between Louis’ brows. “You’ll get worry lines.”

Louis just glares at him, but he’s pretty sure there was some sound advice wrapped up somewhere in there.

“Fine, I’ll talk to him. And I do not have worry lines,” he says slapping Zayn’s hand away. “You’re so annoying.”

“What else is new,” Zayn smiles giving Louis’ forehead another deliberate poke. “Stop stalling. Call your boyfriend.”

“He’s not even my boyfriend,” Louis mutters just as a red M&M bounces off his temple.

“And whose fault is that?”

*

Louis doesn’t actually heed his friends’ advice until late that night even though he’s had plenty of opportunities to do so prior to that. He could’ve done it early this afternoon when Harry Face Timed him to show him the puppy his best friend just adopted, or even around dinner time when Harry couldn’t figure out what he wanted to cook so he called to get suggestions. Really, Louis should’ve done it this morning after he texted Harry good morning and thanked him for such a wonderful night. That would’ve been perfect had it gone well, but Louis just couldn’t bring himself to do it then.

In the end, he decides a phone call would be best because it’s the least scary of all his options. With a text, Harry isn’t necessarily obligated to text back right away and Louis can’t handle a never-ending wait while Harry constructs a polite decline. A video call would be a bit better, however seeing any sort of rejection in Harry’s eyes would kill him. With a phone call, there’s still a chance for rejection of course. Harry could simply hang up and just never call him back, but in his heart, Louis knows Harry would never do that to him or to anybody else.

The phone only rings a couple of times before Harry picks up with a deep hello. Louis panics for a moment after a glance at the time only just now realizing how much of it he wasted talking himself into finally doing this.

“Uh- Hey, Haz. I’m sorry if I woke you up. I hadn’t noticed the time.”

“No, Lou, you didn’t wake me,” Harry assures him, his voice growing lighter with an invisible grin. “I mean, I’m in bed, but I’m just lying here.”

“Oh.” Louis glances at the empty side of his bed and wishes it wasn’t. “Sounds nice.”

“Yeah, it is. Would be even nicer if I weren’t alone and I had someone here with me.” That puts an instant smile on Louis’ face. “By someone, I mean _you_ , by the way. Not just anyone,” Harry clarifies a minute later with a chuckle.

“I know,” Louis grins. “And same. I’d only want you next to me.” And until now, he never realized just how true that is. And like his friends said, that’s never going to happen if one of them doesn’t bite the bullet. “Um- So, speaking of being next to each other. You know, theoretically,” Louis begins with his stomach suddenly in knots. “We seem to talk about it quite a lot…”

Harry clears his throat after a long pause that Louis wanted to scream during.

“We do.” He sounds almost as nervous as Louis now. “Um. Is- Is that a problem?” he asks quietly. “I’m sorry if I was overstepping. Or moving too fast.”

That’s the last thing Louis wanted him to think. Jesus, if they go any slower they’ll be moving in fucking reverse.

“No, Haz, you weren’t. You’re _not_ ,” he assures him before releasing a giant huff because he’s fucking this up. It really should not be this difficult to tell the person he’s falling in love with that he’d like to meet him. “Harry, it’s not a problem and you’re not overstepping like, at all.”

“Oh,” he breathes in relief. “Oh, okay, That’s great. Er- Right?”

“Yes, it is. And I was just sitting here thinking how much greater it would be if instead of talking about it _,_ we just did it instead because you’re so incredible, Harry. Last night was amazing, and I save all the pictures you send me, and reread all our conversations, and I feel crazy all the time for missing someone I’ve never even met, but I do miss you, and this is completely oversharing, but this morning I woke up spooning my fucking pillow because all I have wanted since the start of this whole thing is to kiss you and that’s kind of hard to do over Skype.”

That wasn’t so bad, Louis thinks, once it’s all out there. Granted, the phone line is dead silent now and Harry probably thinks he’s insane, but at least he said it.

*

Harry isn’t breathing. He should probably breathe. Louis has just confessed so many things to him. Many of which Harry has felt himself. But the fact of the matter is, Harry just doesn’t feel ready to meet Louis yet. He’s not sure how to tell Louis that though.

He takes a deep breath and hopes he can find the words that will convey that he’s still in this even if he can’t meet Louis yet.

“Louis.” His voice cracks and he hears Louis’ intake of breath, a small, devastated ‘oh’ echoing down the line that tells him that the crack in his voice is just an extension of the crack he’s just started in Louis’ heart. “I wanna kiss you too,” he rushes on. Maybe he can save this. “God, I wanna kiss you so badly. It’s just— I’m just not sure I’m ready. Lou.”

“Can I ask why not?” Louis asks and there’s so much pain and disappointment in his tone that Harry’s own heart breaks just a little.

He’s scared. Terrified, actually. He started online dating because he was lonely, but while he was looking for a companion, he hadn’t actually been looking for ‘ _the one’_ . The things is, and maybe it’s too soon to be thinking it, but Louis _could be_ ‘the one’, Harry can feel it to the depths of his very soul. Which is why it’s absolutely crucial that he not screw this up, either by pushing Louis away, or by holding him too close too soon. Harry _needs_ to be certain that no matter what’s thrown at them, an evil twin, a preoccupation with dolls, _whatever,_ he’ll be able to look past it and hold firm to what’s in his heart. He’s much too far gone to survive unscathed if things fall apart this time. In the end, he tells Louis the truth.

“I’ve been burned so many times with online dating. There were so many people I thought I felt a connection with but when we met, it wasn’t there. They were lying about themselves or playing a part they thought I wanted to see, and I know you’re not like them Louis. I _know_ without a shadow of a doubt that our connection is real. But I’m still scared. I’m just not brave enough, Louis. Not yet,” Harry says, listening carefully to Louis’ breathing through the phone. “But you make me want to be. You make me feel like I can be soon. If you can just wait a little while longer.”

Louis sighs heavily but doesn’t say anything and Harry’s gripped with a sudden panic that Louis is going to say no, that he’s going to give up on Harry and move on to someone who _is_ ready.

“Please, baby,” Harry pleads.

“Okay,” Louis whispers sadly. “We can wait.”

Harry feels a massive rush of relief surge through him at those words. “Thank you, Louis,” he breathes, throwing his head back against his pillow, finally able to relax. “I swear, you won’t regret it.”

“Just—Just promise me that you’re not actually married or something,” Louis says and Harry can still hear the hurt in his voice. Louis has given him a reprieve but that doesn’t mean that everything is okay.

“Cross my heart,” Harry rushes to assure him. “I’m not married. I don’t have a secret boyfriend. I’m just me over here. And I really like you a lot, Lou.”

Louis sighs again. “Alright. I really like you too, H. I’m sorry if I pushed for more than you’re ready for.”

“No, baby,” Harry murmurs softly through the phone, cuddling his blankets closer since he can’t physically cuddle Louis. “You have nothing to apologize for. You were just trying to communicate what you want. Communication is important.”

“You’re right,” Louis says and his voice sounds stronger. “Communication _is_ important. So, I think we should keep communicating.”

Harry isn’t sure whether he should be worried or not. “O-okay. Sure. You can tell me anything.”

“I wanna be your boyfriend. Can I ask for that?”

Harry felt emotion well up in his throat and prick at his eyes. “Yes,” Harry answers, clearing his throat. “Yeah, I’d love that, Lou.”

“Yeah?”

“To be honest, I’ve been wanting to call you that pretty much since day one.”

“Okay. Well, now you can.” Louis’ voice doesn’t sound so distraught anymore. He sounds a little shy, but pleased and suddenly Harry is overcome with the need to see his face.

“Can we Face Time?” Harry asks and he’s elated when Louis agrees, rushing to connect face to face with his boyfriend. “Hey,” he says with a soft smile.

“Hey,” Louis greets before biting his lip.

“I miss you too, baby. All day, every day. You’re not alone in that,” Harry confesses.

“I’m sorry for unloading all of that on you,” Louis tells him, looking off to the side. He looks embarrassed and that’s the last thing that Harry wants.

“Don’t be. _I’m_ sorry for not being ready and, I don’t know, letting you down? But never be sorry for telling me how you feel, Louis.”

The only problem with Face Timing his boyfriend, is that when they say goodbye, Harry immediately starts to regret not agreeing to meet. He wants Louis in his arms when he goes to bed at night. And again when he wakes up in the morning.

Maybe Harry is more ready than he thought.

*

One Week Later

The interior of Louis’ flat goes quiet as the song he was listening to fades and finally comes to an end. Popcorn and several M&M’s go flying as he quickly reaches for his phone to silence it just as the next track on the album starts blaring in a high-tempo, upbeat electric guitar riff that Louis simply cannot deal with today. Instead, he hits the back button as well as repeat so the only song that’ll play is the same slow, sad one he’s been listening to all afternoon. With his morose soundtrack set, he picks up where he left off with consuming all the junk food he owns in one sitting.

Louis places his phone back on his coffee table once he’s done with it. A safe distance away from him and the obsessive need he feels to re-read a bunch of old texts again, or scroll through all of Harry’s pictures. His _boyfriend’s_ pictures he thinks to himself, grinning a bit at the little reminder the same way he did the entire night after he got such an amazing title. It was a high like no other and sort of made Louis feel invincible. Like nothing could touch them now that they officially had each other. That feeling didn’t last very long once the title high wore off though. True, Harry _is_ his boyfriend now and he feels so happy and proud about that, but he still can’t cuddle up with him after a long day or wake up beside him in the mornings. He can’t cook him a romantic dinner just because or kiss him hello instead of just saying it, so really, there isn’t much difference between their relationship now and what they were doing before. Hence the massive amount of junk food and torture music and general moping around like his heart’s been cut out because in truth, half of it isn’t even here.

The front door of his flat creaks open after someone knocks on it twice and receives nothing in response. There are no panicked declarations of him being right there to open it or quick moving steps to get there. Just Liam and Zayn who poke their heads into his living room and roll their eyes in unison when they spot him practically fused to the sofa with a layer of sugar and fat.

“We’ve been trying to find you all morning. We were worried,” Liam says, sounding mostly relieved that he’s not dead somewhere but also annoyed that he even worried to begin with.

“Oh. Er- Sorry,” Louis winces. “Phone’s on do not disturb.” And yet, here he is being disturbed. Funny that.

“ _Ew_ . What have you been _doing_ in here?” Zayn frowns at the setup he has going on in his living room, first turning his nose up at the food wrappers all over the floor and then the state of his unwashed hair. “When’s the last time you washed this hoodie?”

“I don’t know. Recently,” Louis bites back defensively before a much softer, “ _Probably_.” Louis sighs as he sits up, accidentally dislodging even more kernels of popcorn from his chest to fall onto his floor and Zayn’s shoes.

“I’m going to go with fucking _never_ ,” he mutters before scowling and turning his judgmental gaze on the speakers playing the slow music overhead. “And what the hell is that? It’s awful.”

“It’s Taylor Swift and she _gets_ me. _Give that back!_ ” Louis yells just as Zayn snatches his phone up from the table.

“ _Last Kiss_?” he reads with a flat face. “Really, Lou?”

“Ooh. I quite like that one too. It’s really good,” Liam says in his defense. Louis raises a smug brow. This is why he loves Liam more. He actually has taste. Zayn isn’t swayed as he rolls his eyes at the pair of them.

“Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure you have to have a _first_ kiss in order to have a last one, so this snooze fest is officially over.”

“HEY!” Louis frowns as the music comes to an abrupt stop, but he can’t argue much from where he slumps back against his sofa a few seconds later with no fight left in him. Silence it is then.

“What are you even moping like this for? I thought you and Harry were a thing now. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“It was. It _is_ .” Knowing that Harry cares for him just as much as he cares for Harry was _all_ he wanted. He thought it would be enough just having that. But, it’s not. “What do you think it means if your boyfriend doesn’t want to meet you?” The look his friends exchange tell Louis it’s nothing good. “Well, he says he does want to meet me but he’s still not ready, which I totally understand. You two know more than anybody that I’ve been hurt like a billion times so I get it. But, at the same time, none of that has stopped me from falling for him or trying at love again. It was scary as hell to let him in especially after the last time with Logan.” But he did it. Louis lets out another long sigh, psyching himself up to say the one thing he hasn’t wanted to this whole time. “Maybe he really is married. Or at least seeing somebody else. Maybe this is Logan all over again except in digital form.”

Harry says he hasn’t been untruthful, but how can Louis really know that? All he has is Harry’s word which Louis wants to believe, but he did that with all the others and just ended up heartbroken in the end.

“I’m not sure what’s got him so nervous, but I can promise you he’s not married, Lou. I know that for a fact.”

Louis blinks up at Liam, curious as to why he looks so confident in his statement. “How?”

“Er- I know someone who works at the web design company with him. I couldn’t resist asking about him once I realized that Harry is your Harry.” _His_ Harry. Louis grins again just hearing someone else acknowledge it. “He’s not married. Never has been, and my friend says he’s a really good guy. A great one, in fact.”

He is. The greatest. Possibly only second to Liam Payne.

“Li, you really fished for information from your friend for me?”

“Well, I couldn’t let you date just anyone without checking him out first,” he grins. “Online dating can get scary weird sometimes.”

“Oh, I know. I was almost co-king of the underworld once,” he mutters. He definitely dodged a bullet there.

“And now, you’ve got Harry,” Zayn adds for him. “Someone you’ve waited very long and patiently for.”

“I do and I have,” Louis agrees wholeheartedly.

It took years for someone like him to come along, and it’s tough to not have him fully yet; to still be waiting after knowing in his heart that he’s found the one, but it’ll all be worth it one day. Hopefully, one day very soon he thinks only just now realizing how much of a mess his flat is and that Zayn is most likely right about the hoodie. It hasn’t seen the wash in ages.

*

Harry can’t concentrate. He’s behind on his work again but he can’t stop thinking about how he hasn’t heard anything from Louis in _days_ . He’d been so happy and proud when Louis had asked to be his boyfriend, thinking that maybe they were going to be okay. And they had seemed okay for a day or two until Harry had noticed the dwindling of their texts, phone calls, and photographs. Then, suddenly today, there was just _nothing_ . He’s sent Louis an impressive amount texts in the past several days and tried to call him more than a few times but his calls always go straight to voicemail. Harry is worried and confused, a little scared that he’s in the process of losing something truly great, and, _fuck_ , if he isn’t missing Louis like crazy.

Lunch hour finally rolls around, but Harry isn’t hungry. He doesn’t think he could eat anything if he tried. No, he needs to call Louis just one more time. Needs to hear his voice, even if it’s just a recording of it. As soon as Harry hears the voicemail pick up, his heart falls and he realizes that he was holding out hope for a different outcome. He considers hanging up but he can’t, he needs to say something. He’s not sure what, but he can’t just sit back and let Louis give up on them. He’s maybe kind of a little bit in love with him.

“You’ve reached Louis Tomlinson. Leave a beep at the… nope. [sigh] You know what to do.”

Harry smiles sadly at Louis’ message. It’s cute and humorous, even though he’s sure Louis hadn’t meant for it to be. God, he misses him.

At the beep, Harry takes a deep breath. “Hey,” he says, his voice sounds dry and cracked. “Um, I’m not really sure what’s going on, Louis. I miss you and I hope you’re okay. I’m worried about you. This radio silence kind of feels like a conscious decision though. Are we still…,” Harry bites his lip and he isn’t quite sure he can finish the question. He’s not sure he can handle the answer. His eyes are already filling and he has to clear his throat to continue. “Are we still boyfriends, Louis? Because this feels like maybe you’ve changed your mind. And I know you said you were okay with waiting to meet but I’m starting to think that it’s not okay.”

Harry wipes at his eyes, trying to keep his breathing calm and even. “I’m so sorry if I made you think for a second that I don’t want you, baby. I do. I want you so much. Please, Louis. Don’t give up on me. Don’t give up on us.”

He considers telling Louis that he’ll meet him right here and now, telling him ‘pick a time and place and I’ll be there’ but he doesn’t want to say that to a machine. He doesn’t think Louis is manipulating him to try and get a meeting out of him and agreeing to a meeting now feels too much like that’s exactly what he’s thinking. He’s thought about it, and he _does_ want to meet Louis. But he wants to do it when Louis knows it’s Harry’s decision and not something he felt forced into. He wants Louis to know that he chooses him without any incentive. Having Louis in his arms is the only incentive he needs.

“Please, just talk to me, Louis, and we’ll figure this out, okay? I promise.” He feels a little of the weight lift from his shoulders at having gotten his worries out. Now, it’s up to Louis where they go from here. “Okay. I love you. I hope to hear from you soon.”

Approximately thirty seconds after Harry hangs up his cell, he freezes in place, the conversation playing over in his mind. “Shit,” he whispers, squeezing his eyes shut. He just told Louis he loves him.

*

Niall frowns as his front door swings open and Harry slumps slowly into his apartment.

“Haz?”  He asks when Harry doesn’t say anything and just walks over to lay down on the sofa, maneuvering his head into Niall’s lap.

He sighs, just lying there as Niall stares down at him. Niall is officially worried.

“Harry, what’s going on, mate?” He asks, running his fingers through Harry’s curls. He knows Harry likes that and he looks like he could use some comfort right now.

When Harry doesn’t speak right away, Niall fears that he’s not going to. He knows Louis hasn’t been answering Harry’s calls or texts the past few days and it’s clearly taken its toll but this seems worse. He wonders if Louis’ broken it off now.

“What if I’ve lost him, Ni?” Harry whimpers, burrowing his head further into Niall’s leg.

“Still haven’t heard from Louis?” Niall asks, relief flooding through him for his best friend. There’s still a chance as long as he’s not heard anything.

“No, I haven’t,” Harry sniffs. “And I think I just made it worse.”

Niall raises an eyebrow, wondering how Harry could possibly make it worse when he hasn’t even heard from Louis. “How?”

Harry rolls over, looking up at Niall from his lap. “I left him a voicemail. I just wanted to apologize, maybe beg him not to break up with me,” he closes his eyes and his face looks so anguished that it nearly breaks Niall’s heart. “I said I love him, Niall. On a voicemail. Completely by accident.”

“Well, shit,” Niall comments, running a hand through his own hair. “But you do, don’t you? Love him?”

“I do,” Harry answers, rolling back over so that Niall can’t make out his expression. “But I didn’t mean to say it then. That’s not something you leave someone on a _message_ _,_ Ni. That’s something you tell someone for the first time to their face. What if he thinks I just said it to get him to talk to me? What if he doesn’t believe me?”

“He will, Haz.” Niall says, rubbing Harry’s back with one hand while he plays with his hair with the other. “I’ll tell him myself if I have to, okay? Surely, he’ll believe an absolute stranger.”

“Thanks, Ni,” Harry says quietly, not even pretending to laugh at Niall’s weak joke.

Niall knows his promises aren’t enough. He just hopes Louis calls soon and clears this whole mess up.

*

It’s past noon when Liam and Zayn leave and head out to lunch. They had offered to take Louis with them or to even cook something there at Louis’ flat, but he politely declined and took a raincheck. He didn’t feel much like going out and frankly, watching his friends spill mozzarella and cheddar all over his kitchen floor while arguing over how to make the perfect grilled cheese is more excitement than Louis is up for right now.

His sofa welcomes him back like an old friend once he sees his friends to the door and wishes them a good Saturday. After getting to talk to them about everything going on with him and Harry as well as ditching the soundtrack of a life in despair, Louis does feel marginally better. He had started to question things between them again, but Liam and Zayn were right. He has waited a long time and gone through a list filled with all the wrong men that’s as long as his forearm to finally find the right one. To have something and someone with this much potential. Waiting just a little while longer won’t kill him. Well, probably.

Louis sighs as he reaches for his phone, giving into temptation to see if someone other than his friends have tried contacting him today. By someone, he means Harry of course however it makes him feel slightly less pathetic to pretend he hasn’t been lying around his flat all this time praying that Harry misses him too.

All of the notifications start flooding in once he switches his phone off of do not disturb. There are nearly a dozen of them. Calls, texts, and _mostly_ empty threats from Liam and Zayn to kill him if it turns out he’s dead make him laugh as they pop into his inbox, and right there in the middle of the madness are all the attempts Harry made to contact him as well. The voicemail he left not even fifteen minutes ago is what interests Louis the most and has his thumb hovering over it, anxious to open it and hear whatever was so important that it couldn’t wait.

At first, all Louis hears is his breathing which makes him question whether Harry meant to say anything at all and the voicemail was an accident. But then, finally he does say something, and suddenly, all is right with the world again. All it is, is a simple ‘hey’ but it feels like everything, right up until he admits to not knowing what’s going on and sounding so hurt when he asks if they’re even still together because he thinks maybe Louis has changed his mind.

Louis listens to the rest of the choked-up message with his stomach in knots because he hadn’t meant to shut his boyfriend out or make him doubt the feelings Louis has for him. He was simply trying to clear his head for a bit. A completely pointless effort on his part when the voicemail stops and it takes Louis’ brain a whole millisecond to realize Harry ended it with ‘I love you’.

Those three words sink in and wrap around his heart so tightly that it’s all he can think about. They weren’t at all what Louis was expecting to hear in that message, but that doesn’t matter. Not when being loved by Harry and being in love with him feels like this. He replays the voicemail just to make sure he isn’t crazy and then dials Harry back faster than he ever thought possible with his heart pounding in his chest. It rings once with no answer, and then again and again and again making Louis feel less like he’s free-falling and more like he has crashed face-first onto the floor.

“Shit.” He hangs up deflated, but all that excitement comes rushing back the moment his own phone lights up with a new call. Louis answers it mid-ring, not even bothering with hello when the line connects. “Did you mean it?”

“…Er-” It’s clear from the long, confused pause Harry takes that Louis has taken him by surprise with such an odd choice in greeting. “I’d _like_ to say yes to that but the truth is I’m not quite sure what-”

“I love you,” Louis blurts out just as quickly and freely as his initial greeting, but this time it’s important and he truly means it. And, right now, he really needs to know that Harry meant it too. “You said it earlier in your voicemail. And, I know that sometimes these things just come out and sometimes we’re not thinking clearly when we say them, but, Haz, I _am_ thinking clearly and I just-”

“I love you, Louis. I love you too. I wanted so much to tell you that in person but it kind of just slipped out. But, that doesn’t make it any less true.”

Louis got a lot of things from that confession. The first part; the _love_ , Louis has technically already heard once from him today, but the other part. The part about wanting to tell him in person? That must’ve been a mistake.

“You- You wanted to tell me in person?”

“I did,” Harry tells him with a soft chuckle. “I still do.” The genuine, unwavering quality in his voice is all Louis needs to hear to have him standing up from his sofa at lightning speed.

“Where are you?”

“Er- I went into work for a bit today. I was on my way home, but- I can _not_ be,” he says. “If that’s what you want. Just give me an address, baby, and I’m there. Cross my heart.”

Those words are like music to his ears or at least a really, really happy Taylor Swift song.

“So, does that mean what I think it means?” he smiles. “That _finally_ …”

“I get to kiss my gorgeous boyfriend?” Harry laughs into the receiver. “God, I sure hope so.” Louis lets his eyes flutter closed, not fully convinced he isn’t dreaming once he opens them again. “So, uh, about that address I mentioned?” his boyfriend teases. “I’d love to come over. If you’ll still have me of course.” Louis has already typed up his address, building, and flat number and hit send by the time Harry finishes that last sentence.

They hang up and Louis can’t wipe the dumb grin off his face knowing Harry is just a few minutes away. He jets off to his bedroom to switch out his unwashed hoodie for a clean one, do something about the state of his hair, and also use his toothbrush to scrub away any and all evidence of his day of self-pitied lounging. Unfortunately, there’s not much he can do about his flat. It’s still a disaster and he doesn’t exactly have time to tidy up with Harry’s less than five minute ETA, but that’s alright. Harry says he loves him and loving someone means taking the good with the bad. Even if that means M&M’s on the floor and popcorn stuck between the sofa cushions. And if the power of love isn’t enough, he’ll simply blame the mess on Liam and Zayn.

There’s a knock at the front door that halts Louis’ pacing, and suddenly, his stomach is swarming with butterflies. Everything feels so surreal as he hurries over to answer it, widening the crack in the door to see every detail of his boyfriend’s green eyes and beautiful smile for the very first time. He looks just as thrilled to see Louis face-to-face. Letting out a sigh of relief like he’s been waiting a while too.

“Hey, boyfriend.”

Louis snorts at how odd it is to finally hear Harry’s voice without it going through a set of speakers first. This is probably the strangest first meeting Louis has ever had, because rather than politely shaking his hand to introduce himself as per usual, Louis forgets his manners altogether and eagerly presses up to kiss him instead. The fit of their mouths is even more perfect than Louis has been imagining it to be all this time and no dream could ever beat the petal-soft feel of Harry’s lips or the weight of his arms wrapping tight around Louis’ waist to pull him closer, making this not only the weirdest first interaction ever, but also the best.

Harry looks more than a little dazed when Louis finally lets him pull back, still smiling bright as ever even as he catches his breath.

“ _Wow_. Nice to meet you too,” he jokes making himself laugh in the middle of Louis’ doorway. Louis has heard him laugh a million times before, but never so clear and this strong. He still can’t believe he’s really here.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” he laughs along. “I guess I’ve been holding that in for a while.” _Months_ really, but who’s counting?

Harry’s eyes soften from a dark forest green to a brilliant emerald as he anxiously bites at his bottom lip. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” he apologizes. “I hope it was worth it?”

Instead of answering him, Louis shushes him and then kisses him until there’s no doubt of just how worth it Harry was and still is. Besides, the two of them have done enough talking over the past few months. More words right now probably isn’t going to solve anything, but more kissing? Now, _that’s_ something Louis can get on board with.

**********

“ _Stop it_ ,” Louis hisses across his plate of tiramisu, snorting into his glass of champagne when he feels a rogue foot creeping up the inseam of his slacks. “You’re going to get us kicked out of here.” He discreetly reaches down to slap at Harry’s socked toes, catching sight of their waiter’s suspicious gaze. The same waiter who merely raised a brow earlier when Louis crept off to the bathroom only for Harry to follow. He said nothing about their sudden disappearance and kindly averted his eyes upon their return ten minutes later with Harry’s face flushed, his lips red like wine they never ordered, and his jaw noticeably tighter when he smirks at the way Louis slides back into his seat practically boneless and more sated than their steak dinner could ever hope to make him.

“Shit, he keeps looking! He knows something’s up.” Louis meant for that to come out as a whisper but he just ends up cackling it instead when Harry wiggles his toes against him.

“In his defense, babe, something _was_ up,” Harry drawls, drawing every pair of eyes in the restaurant to them when they both splutter laughs and champagne goes flying.

“Fuck, he’s coming over here!” Louis gasps. “Just act cool. Natural. Seriously?” He fondly rolls his eyes when Harry proudly licks over his bright, swollen lips like it wasn’t obvious already that he just sucked Louis off between their main course and dessert. “I take it back. Act less natural,” he mumbles just as their waiter greets them with a kind smile.

“Is there anything else I can get for you gentlemen?”

“Er- N-Nope. We’re good. Great! Actually, we should probably get going. Right, babe?” It’s not like either of them has room to finish their giant servings of tiramisu. And they’re each going to have to be carried out of here if they start on champagne bottle number three.

“Right! We should definitely leave and keep the fun coming.” _Coming_? Really? Louis tries not to laugh in front of their waiter. He really, truly does but it’s hard to keep a straight face when Harry can’t even manage it for two seconds.

Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to mind their immaturity. Well, much. He sighs a bit when he leaves to go get their check and kindly places it on their table. “Thank you for choosing to dine with us and Happy One-Year Anniversary. Please remember us for your next anniversary and join us again.”

“Thank you. We’ll be here,” Harry promises, reaching across the table this time to take Louis’ hand in his and stare into his eyes making Louis’ stomach all fluttery, but not from the champagne.

They stand up to leave and go catch a taxi, still just as drunk and giggly as before as they try to maintain the face of complete sobriety in front of all the restaurant’s other guests. One couple in particular though catches Louis’ eye on their way out. It’s the two men ahead of them being escorted to a table, one of which looks remarkably like-

“ _Logan_?”

The man frowns at the sound of his name being called by someone other than the person at his side. His brow slowly unfurrows when he recognizes Louis standing before him. “ _Lou_?”

“Oh my God. It _is_ you!” Louis exclaims, feeling very strange about bumping into his ex who caused him so much anguish, but also sort of okay because Louis couldn’t be happier now. “Oh my God,” he gasps again, only just now really looking at Logan’s date looking at him like he’s insane. “Is this Knathan? It’s nice to meet you.” Again, it’s more than a little strange bumping into the silent-letter-named person whom Louis used to curse at night, but it’s quite interesting for him now.

“Uh, babe, I don’t think that’s Knathan. This is Tom,” Harry reveals out of nowhere, smiling at the man wearing the most peculiar-looking choker Louis has ever seen. “We’ve met before,” he explains.

“Really?” Logan asks, looking between them curiously. “How?”

“Er- Funny story actually. We went on a date once, but I guess it didn’t really work out? Total opposites,” Tom answers, laughing the one-time occasion off like there are no hard feelings. It takes Louis’ alcohol soaked brain a second, but eventually, he puts together the name, his and Harry’s failed date timeframe, and the sparkling, glittering cat collar around Toms’ neck and realizes he’s none other than Crazy Cat Man Tom. More commonly known as Tom Cat.

“Oh. My. G-” Louis stops mid-syllable when Harry discreetly nudges him in the ribs.

“Lo and I are actually here for a date tonight too,” Tom continues with a proud grin aimed at a very uncomfortable-looking Logan who seems happier staring at the floor than at Louis. “It’s our very first one.”

“ _Wow_ , Tom. That’s…” Harry nods as he searches for the right descriptor for them linking up together out of all the people in the world. “That is just _fantastic_ ,” Harry decides after a very suspenseful beat that left even Louis feeling a bit nervous. “Sadly, Louis and I were just heading home, but you two enjoy! Have a great night! Bye!”

Harry quickly walks them out of the restaurant where their exes can neither see or hear them completely fucking losing it. Louis doesn’t even know what’s funny, just that it is and it’s _brilliant_.

“Holy shit!” he pants. “ _Your_ cat man!”

“And _your_ Logan! Together!”

“There’s no way in hell that can work,” Louis snorts, his face going flat when Harry seems to disagree.

“Well, I don’t know about that. It could. After all,” he grins, “Mighty Aphrodite did get it right at least _once_.” Louis can’t stop himself from smiling when Harry links their hands together.

“That, she did,” Louis agrees, kissing Harry right in the middle of the pavement and then purring in his ear just to make him laugh and squirm to get away.

“Do not!” he cackles. “I swear to God if you start purring or pawing at me all the time I’m smothering you in your sleep with a pillow.”

“That’s fine, baby. Just mind my ears. And the _tail_ ,” he teases, unable to escape when Harry snatches him up and holds him there so he can’t run.  

“Alright, that’s it! I’m officially shutting you up.” Louis doesn’t even care when his boyfriend forces him to do so with a deep kiss he feels tingling all the way down to his toes.

And, yeah. Mighty Aphrodite got it right. In fact, Louis would say she got it damn near perfect.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you liked it, here is a [rebloggable fic post](http://suddenclarityharry.tumblr.com/post/173734959746/send-my-love-authors-rearviewdreamer-and) to share!


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